New York Times Quotes HCFO Grantees on Hospital Pricing

HCFO grantees Glenn Melnick, University of Southern California, and James Robinson, University of California, Berkeley, were quoted in a New York Times article [1]on hospital prices. Melnick stated that hospital charges are set by the hospital without market constraints; the arbitrary nature of these charges contributes to increases in health care spending and inflation. Robinson concurred and offered, “The only way to pay less for health care – is to pay less for health care,” noting that hospitals are ever-expanding and will utilize the resources they are provided. Melnick’s HCFO-funded work has examined fair-pricing regulations [2], hospital pricing [3], and the effect of plan concentration on hospital prices [4]. Robinson’s HCFO-funded work focused on consolidation [5]in the health insurance and hospital sectors.